Amazon.com is one of the top picks in e-commerce for the year, mostly because of its dominance, but also because of the opportunities it has going forward in mobile and social networks. Here’s how the two factors play a role as e-commerce revenues are expected to jump by 13 percent in 2011.

In the 10 days or so since hackers purloined account data from the Gawker group of sites, several Web properties have urged users to change any potentially compromised passwords. Today, the New York Times joined the chorus.

Pulse, the visually engaging mobile news reader, is adding a social element today. To date, Pulse (for iPad, iPhone and Android) gave users an easily scannable and image-driven view of their favorite RSS feeds. Now, users will also be able to add their Facebook accounts and flip through material posted by their friends.

Meebo on Tuesday plans to announce an update to its popular Meebo Bar (which is used on this Web site, and many others, to make it easier for users to share content). The goal is to help users discover new Web sites (kind of like StumbleUpon) and become loyal to them by using a check-in system (kind of like a virtual Foursquare).

Chinese venture capitalists are buying into the country’s “flash sales” membership-based retail websites, as online shoppers in the country get a taste of steep discounts on the gilded life through offerings from retailers like newly funded start-up Vipshop.

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